Prenatal and New-born Genetic Testing Market

The Global prenatal and new-born genetic testing market comprises four prominent players namely, Sequenom, Inc., Verinata Health, Bio-Rad Laboratories, and Agilent Technologies, who collectively held 53% of the market in 2012. Sequenom, Inc. continues to be the market leader, accounting for 26% of the total revenue in 2012 as it was the first company that offered its proprietary non-invasive prenatal test MaterniT21 PLUS for detecting fetal chromosomal abnormalities in pregnant women. Transparency Market Research reports that the global market for prenatal and new-born genetic testing is projected to reach a valuation of US$8.37 bn by 2019, rising at a strong CAGR of 26.9% during the forecast period of 2013 to 2019.

North America Showing Most Promising Growth Rate

The market for prenatal and new-born genetic testing is forecast to exhibit a strong growth rate in North America, where it will rise at a CAGR of 28.2% during the forecast period of 2013-2019, followed by Europe. In 2012, by diagnostic technique segment, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) covered a significant share of 66.7% of the total market of prenatal and new-born genetics testing. However, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is expected to expand at the most significant rate during the forecast period. One of the factors that is driving the growth of the NIPT market is the non-invasive nature of the test that completely eliminates the risk of miscarriage associated with invasive tests such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS).

Among the diagnostic techniques in the global prenatal and new-born genetic testing market, array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) is estimated to show a robust CAGR of 26.2% from 2013 to 2019 whereas among the screening methods, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) is projected to exhibit a 37.6% CAGR.

Advanced Technologies and Growing Awareness Driving Market

Increasing maternal age and late pregnancies are among prominent reasons for growth in the demand for prenatal and new-born genetic testing. Globally, the average age of first-time mothers is increasing, particularly in developed countries such as the U.S., England, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan. Amongst the major factors responsible for advancing maternal age are financial stability, rising literacy rates, and social factors.

Continued efforts are being made by manufacturers to improve the existing technology and introduce new breakthrough technology which is also fueling the global market for prenatal and new-born genetic testing. For Instance, a Cyprus based start-up, NIPD Genetics Limited, has introduced a NIPD MeDIP real-time qPCR technique for detecting common chromosomal abnormalities. The study of this technique reveals its sensitivity and specificity of 100% and is relatively more efficient than existing next generation sequencing (NGS). Moreover, growing awareness regarding chromosome abnormalities in the fetus is also seen as a driver for the market in the near future.

Globally Rising Average Age of Pregnancy Decreasing Fertility Rate

Falling fertility rates as a result of rising average age of women to become pregnant is one of the primary reasons hindering the global prenatal and newborn genetic testing market. For example, CNN published in 2012 that the fertility rate in the U.S. increased in women and teenagers among 20 years and mid-20 years of age, but decreased among those above 30 years. The reasons for falling fertility rate includes environmental factors, stress among women, and changing lifestyles. In 2013, EUROSTAT published that the fertility rates in Spain, Greece, Ireland, and Italy are decreasing notably due to a rapid rise in the number of working women.

According to the author of this research study, “The market for prenatal and new-born genetic testing in Asian countries such as Japan, India, and China is largely untouched or significantly underpenetrated compared to North American and European countries. This is mainly due to the lack of access to prenatal and new-born genetic testing in these countries and low level of awareness. These regions offer immense opportunities for the market.”

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